TD does not authorize employment, and past status should not be treated as present permission.
Review the spouse’s current plan
Identify the intended activity and any independent lawful work basis. TD dependants may study but may not work. A familiar employer or previous family trip does not create current employment authorization.
Build a dated review file around each dependent's passport, admission record, daily activity, school plans, and proposed paid work. Confirm the relationship documents, planned travel dates, school arrangements, and whether any spouse intends to undertake paid or self-directed activity. A common-law or conjugal partner is not covered and needs an independent route, and a child's TD ends at 21 whatever the household has planned, so the next status should be arranged well before that birthday. If the spouse wants an independent professional route, assess their own citizenship, qualifications and offer rather than treating the principal’s TN case as covering both designers. Dependants in a dependent status are tied to the principal's status remaining valid, so a gap in the principal's authorisation can affect them as well, and any renewal should be timed alongside the change rather than after it. What TD does not permit is employment of any kind, including remote work for a Canadian employer performed from inside the United States, and derivative eligibility ends at twenty-one.